Facebook kills the thumbs up

by Edward Davidson

This week Facebook introduced a new design for their Like and Share buttons, as well as a number of different formats which combine Like and Share buttons together.

The new Like design removes the traditional thumbs up imagery that was sometimes seen as inappropriate when sharing emotionally sensitive content. There is also a change in colour and font to a lowercase “f” which with the recognisable flat design, has been slowly replacing the full Facebook logo since April.

Since their launch back in 2010, Share and Like buttons are now viewed 20 billion times daily across millions of websites. Any change is likely to divide opinion but is crucial for Facebook to get right in the constant competition of sharing options available for customers.

Facebook referenced it had been running trials tests with a number of companies including hotels.com and Justgiving with initial reports suggesting that “referral traffic is usually more qualified and converts at a higher rate compared to other types of traffic.”

The old Like button will gradually automatically updated over time. The Send Facebook button will be updated with Share.